The two greatest expenses for most companies are human resources and real estate. Human resources involves the employment of a skilled workforce and includes related expenses such as salaries, retirement contributions, health care contributions, and the like. Real estate involves the buildings and other facilities in which those employees work, and includes expenses such as rent, utilities, and property taxes. In addition to these aspects of a company, information technology is a third aspect that is becoming more critical to most companies. Information technology includes the management of technology resources such as computers, telephones, and other electronic devices. In today's world, information technology is crucial to most businesses.
Traditionally, each of these aspects of a company has been able to work somewhat autonomously. Human resources and real estate needs did not change rapidly, and as needs changed, there was adequate time to consider the options and make decisions. Information technology was traditionally not a crucial part of most business.
Today's business environment is changing. Rapid changes are becoming the norm. Employees are increasingly mobile, with current technology allowing them to perform their work anywhere. The office is becoming a thing of the past as employees are increasingly working from temporary work stations, their homes, their cars, or out in the field. Enormous effort is required for the real estate department or other decision makers to understand the company's needs at any given time. Similarly, as employees move, the information technology department is challenged to allocate and distribute technology resources where they are needed. If the technology is not available when needed, employee productivity and efficiency suffers. Needs change from one day to another; but companies lack adequate tools to help them track, understand, and respond to these ever changing needs.